Strategy to Shorten Serving Tubing

[wardens355]

I am currently trying to reduce the amount of serving tube I have to deal with for my freezer setup. I use picnic taps, no collar, 14.8 CF freezer with 8 kegs and a 20# CO2 tank. Right now I am at a serving pressure of 12-13 psi, 42F. I have several kegs with 10' to 12' of 3/16" Ultra Barrier Silver tubing. I was unhappy with having to use so much tubing to serve my beer at proper carb pressure, so I ordered some 1/8" Tygon tubing to shorten my tubing. I am using a 1/8" x 1/4" nipple and about an inch or so of 3/16" tube to connect to a picnic tap.





I hooked up a few lines to the kegs and they are pouring great. No foamy mess at all, and I think I could use 2' - 3' for a good pour. I call it success. Will use this setup moving forward and not have to have big coils of tubing on top of each keg.

 

[cbenn22]

I'll bump this because I think it's a great idea, and I have a quick question.

I know you used a 1/8" x 1/4" splice for the 1/8" to 3/16" connection.
Do you think I could get away with a 3/16" x 1/4" splice? Would the 1/8" Tygon fit over a 3/16" barb?

 

[wardens355]

I'll bump this because I think it's a great idea, and I have a quick question.

I know you used a 1/8" x 1/4" splice for the 1/8" to 3/16" connection.
Do you think I could get away with a 3/16" x 1/4" splice? Would the 1/8" Tygon fit over a 3/16" barb?

I don't have any 3/16" barbs, but I need to run to home depot today, so I'll bring a short length of 1/8" tubing to see if it might fit. I use the fitting here:

1/8 x 1/4 Splicer

Need to buy a decent amount of stuff to make the purchase make sense with shipping though.

 

[wardens355]

Would the 1/8" Tygon fit over a 3/16" barb?

Tried this at the store today. Was a bit of a pain to get the 1/8" tubing over just one barb on a 3/16" barbed fitting (tubing wasn't heated up). If you soaked it in almost boiling water you could probably get it on with a bit of patience.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, the only line length calculator worth using says two feet of 1/8" ID tubing would support dispensing pressure up to 16.something psi.

So this could certainly work if one has a dispensing system that could hook keg to faucet in two feet...

Cheers!

 

[cbenn22]

I don't have any 3/16" barbs, but I need to run to home depot today, so I'll bring a short length of 1/8" tubing to see if it might fit. I use the fitting here:

1/8 x 1/4 Splicer

Need to buy a decent amount of stuff to make the purchase make sense with shipping though.

I agree, shipping from the website is ridiculous, but if I use 4 of these to connect to my 4 shanks and 4 of these to connect to my disconnects, I'll only need ~12 feet of Tygon when replacing all 4 of my beer lines. 12 feet of 1/8" Tygon costs about $10 compared to the $20 or more that I would pay for 3/16" hose.

Have you noticed any problems with the beer coming "uncarbed" in the lines because of the pressure of the beer decreasing (Bernoulli) when it enters the 1/8" fittings.

fwiw, the only line length calculator worth using says two feet of 1/8" ID tubing would support dispensing pressure up to 16.something psi.

So this could certainly work if one has a dispensing system that could hook keg to faucet in two feet...

Cheers!

I've read that Tygon has a slightly less coefficient of friction so I'm hoping I can get away with using ~3 ft of line per keg and still have a reasonable speed pour.

 

[raouliii]

Looks like an interesting experiment.

wardens355, how is this working out after 8 months?
Since the cross-section of the tubing has been reduced by 1/3 with the drop from 3/16" to 1/8", has it had an affect on achievable flow rate?
Can you achieve a 10 second pint pour?

 

[wardens355]

Have you noticed any problems with the beer coming "uncarbed" in the lines because of the pressure of the beer decreasing (Bernoulli) when it enters the 1/8" fittings.

I've read that Tygon has a slightly less coefficient of friction so I'm hoping I can get away with using ~3 ft of line per keg and still have a reasonable speed pour.

What pressure/temp do you typically operate at? I can let you know how long my lines actually are when I get home tonight and how long it takes to pour a pint. I have found that the line length estimated from Soltys' calculator is a bit short for me, but I typically overcarbonate a little bit since I frequently bottle straight from the keg. I buy the tubing by the 50' roll, so using 3-4 feet of line instead of 2-3 feet is not an issue for me, and I don't really care about time to pour, as long as it feels reasonable.

I occasionally have issues with foamy beer, but I have attributed it to a keg being a bit overcarbonated. I have not seen bubbles forming in the tubing under normal conditions, but some do form at lower pressures when I fill bottles.

Another plus of the small line is the relatively small volume that sits in the tubing between boozing. With the 12-foot 3/16" lines, approx 2.2 ounces sits in the lines, which is 13% of a pint pour or around 50% of a taster. With the 3-foot 1/8" lines, approx 0.2 ounces sits in the lines, which is 1.5% of a pint, 5% of a taster. I can sometimes detect off-flavors in beer that has sit in a line for a while, so I simply purge less than a shots worth and then pour.

how is this working out after 8 months?
Since the cross-section of the tubing has been reduced by 1/3 with the drop from 3/16" to 1/8", has it had an affect on achievable flow rate?
Can you achieve a 10 second pint pour?

I have been satisfied, especially considering the 100-feet of 3/16" line I would need in my 8-keg freezer if I didn't use 1/8" line. I don't have any issues with pour time, but I don't pay too much attention. I'll time a pint and let you know.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]I have been satisfied, especially considering the 100-feet of 3/16" line I would need in my 8-keg freezer if I didn't use 1/8" line.[...]

Before that scares anyone, if using pvc lines (eg: Bevlex 200, which is pretty much the industry standard for that type of beer line) managing 12 foot runs per keg doesn't require much effort.



Bev-Seal Ultra Series 235 users might face a greater challenge as their line lengths go up by about 50% and the bend radius increases.

Adding flow meters and a crapload of temperature sensors messes with the aesthetics a bit...



...but I can still swap a keg in around a minute.

Anyway, I suspect my worse-case runs would exceed four feet, which at a .125" ID would likely result in a dribbly pour...

Cheers!

 

[wardens355]

Before that scares anyone, if using pvc lines (eg: Bevlex 200, which is pretty much the industry standard for that type of beer line) managing 12 foot runs per keg doesn't require much effort.

Anyway, I suspect my worse-case runs would exceed four feet, which at a .125" ID would likely result in a dribbly pour...

Cheers!

Since I use picnic taps (not faucets), and always open the freezer to pour, long lines just don't work for me. Too much clutter. I have a 5-foot serving line for when I have saisons on tap, I'll hook it up to my English and American style beers and check back in with how it pours.

 

[wardens355]

First pour test - Pilsener at ~43F, 15 psi w/ 5-foot serving line. Around 16 seconds to pour a pint.

Second pour test - Hoppy lager at ~43F, 14 psi w/ 3-foot serving line. Around 12 seconds to pour a pint.